For 1997, established crew chief Larry
McReynolds joined the team, replacing David Smith. Nearly everyone was expecting the
Earnhardt-McReynolds combo to be a strong contender for the championship. Unfortunately it
wasn't to be.

The 1997 season was instead a year-long struggle for Dale Earnhardt. He was
involved in a crash while racing for second in the closing laps of the Daytona 500,
preventing him once again from winning the prestigious event.

A scary event for Earnhardt was the Southern 500 in September at Darlington
Raceway. Dale's car brushed the Turn 1 wall, and then hit the wall hard in Turn 2 on the
first lap. Earnhardt slowed and drove slowly around the track, but missed the entrance to
pit road. He went around again, ignoring team owner Richard Childress' radio
command to park the car where it is. When Dale finally got his car onto pit road, his crew
had to get in front of it to bring it to a stop. Dale was carried from the car and taken
to the infield care center, followed by the hospital for tests. The incident was diagnosed
as a temporary dysfunction of the brain where a blood vessel feeding the base of the brain
temporarily went into spasm and restricted some of the blood flow to the brain stem. After
spending one night in the hospital Earnhardt was cleared to race the next weekend.

Dale had just 7 top-5's all year and went winless for the first season of his
career. Earnhardt, McReynolds and the team tried everything, but nothing seemed to help
get the Intimidator back to victory lane.